


Too Close for Comfort

by legendofthesevenstars



Category: Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne
Genre: Experimental Style, Gen, No Dialogue, Scene Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26532688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendofthesevenstars/pseuds/legendofthesevenstars
Summary: Allen gets hurt protecting Hitomi, and Van worries. Hitomi dies, and Allen agonizes. Van is gravely injured, and Hitomi blames herself.
Relationships: Van Fanel & Kanzaki Hitomi & Allen Schezar
Kudos: 7





	Too Close for Comfort

Allen arrived just in time. Without him, the Dragonslayers would have made quick work of Van, or worse, Hitomi would have suffered a fatal injury. It’s a small mercy none of his vital organs were hit. Van saw firsthand what the Zaibach Guymelefs could do when they killed Balgus. Even now, it’s hard to stop his hands from trembling when he sees those metal claws emerge.

With every pained grunt, Van’s stomach aches, twisting into knots. Gaddes staunched the blood, while Reeden cleaned the wound, Allen’s knuckles turning white from clutching the side of the litter. The bandages are quickly turning dark. Van tenses, Merle clutching his arm tighter. Allen’s breaths are strangled and shallow already. He could die from a single wound.

Even if he didn’t have the best first impression of Allen, he’s already saved them enough times that he’s started feeling indebted to him. After he was taken by Folken, Allen came to rescue him. In Asturia, he stopped Dilandau’s mayhem so that they could escape. And now, because he came to help them, he’s hurt. On the night Fort Castelo burned, Allen told him that _a samurai gives his life so that others may live_. He sacrificed himself on his honor as an Asturian knight and out of the goodness of his heart. Did he also do it to protect Hitomi?

After they connect with the merchant ship, Millerna comes aboard. At first, she hesitates, but with a little encouragement, she agrees to the operation. Van’s shoulders untense slightly, but Hitomi still leans her head forward, eyes tightly shut, clasping her pendant in both hands. Praying, Van assumes, for Allen to make it through the procedure.

Millerna did not only agree to this because of her feelings for Allen, and not just because it would be wrong to let him die. Nobody else here wants him to die. And _he_ probably doesn’t want to die either, no matter how selfless he is. It’s not just because of Hitomi or anyone in the crew that Van doesn’t want Allen to die. It’s not just because he feels somewhat guilty, knowing he was the one to split the metal claw that came barreling toward Hitomi.

He clutches Hitomi’s shoulder, offering her a look of sympathy that comes out more troubled than he wants. When the hours pass and Millerna emerges with the good news, relief washes over him, his entire body relaxing.

—

A chill runs up Allen’s spine when Hitomi screams.

Merle shivers, her fur bristling, ears twitching. Van springs to his feet, rushing to the front of the cell to try and catch any glimpse of what happened. A passing man tells them the prisoner is _dead_.

_Hitomi_ is dead.

Van rattles the bars as if he can break the cage to get out. When he yells at the passing guards, his voice trembles. Allen’s stomach aches, the wound in his side prickling. They have to get out of here.

Chid’s arrival gives him an idea. Snagging the nail file around Merle’s neck, he draws Chid in and holds the point of the file to his cheek. It works. The guards let him out. Though he can barely think about it with _Hitomi is dead_ banging around in his brain, he’s not oblivious that regardless of the circumstances, this is the first time he’s held his son.

Van rushes ahead, with Merle bounding by his side. Because of the stitches in his side, Allen can’t run, so by the time he makes it to the cell, Van has already taken over for Millerna, pumping his hands against Hitomi’s chest, sweat running down his forehead. Looking at her limp form on the floor, his wound prickles, his heart aching and crying out for her. She’s paler than a ghost, her body likely already going cold.

Allen’s throat is dry. Though Chid is still in his arms, he can’t bring himself to cherish the moment when Hitomi is _dead_. He can barely even ask _how_ when his mind is so consumed with _why_. Why Hitomi, who had just moments ago been so full of life? The girl who blushed when he kissed her cheek, hiccupped and shouted when she was wine-drunk, wavered over the cards as she unraveled his past in front of the others, and listened when he opened his heart to her is dead.

If she really dies, then she’ll be just like Mother and Marlene. Only instead of dying in a bed, comfortable with someone she loves, she’ll die on a cold prison floor. Though he wasn’t sure at first that Marlene had grown to love the Duke, he’s certain of it now. To Chid—to his son—he’s just a fragment of a time long past when he mattered to someone, when she needed him to comfort and protect her, and when he needed the most comforting himself.

He feels powerless. Now, when he can’t protect Hitomi, is when she needs it the most. Because he protected her, he ended up with this wound in his side. But now he can’t save her. He can’t move, he can’t do anything.

Oddly, Van’s distress puts his heart somewhat at ease. But why? If Millerna can’t do it, there’s no reason Van would be able to revive her. She’s still as cold and dead as before they arrived. Van presses on her chest with such urgency that Allen’s afraid he might break her, his breath heaving as if the effort alone can wake her up. He’s never seen Van cry, but he looks about ready to burst into tears. Allen’s heart aches, not just for Hitomi but for Van. Because Van really cares for her.

There’s no doubt it’s absolutely the wrong time, but he feels a twinge of jealousy. It fades when Hitomi’s hand twitches and she comes back to life.

—

The gasps seem to echo in the loading dock when Van’s wings burst from his back. Having seen Merle’s reaction and recalling Van’s memories, Hitomi should fear what they might say about his wings. But no one seems to care, and why would they, when Van is soaked head to toe in blood?

Millerna’s voice wavers. Tears bead at the corners of Merle’s eyes, and she snaps at Millerna when she can’t stop the bleeding. Hitomi doesn’t spare a glance to the table, but she saw Allen sit down and touch the tips of his gloved fingers to his temple, his palm still soaked with Van’s blood. _Van’s blood_. Allen nearly died from one small wound for her sake, and she thought she might have a heart attack worrying about him. With dozens of wounds, Van might not have much longer. Her stomach roils, a numb buzz behind her forehead.

Then she realizes it was Escaflowne, and that it was _her_. Because she showed Van how to dowse. Because she showed him how to think in time with Escaflowne. He’s lying on that table nearly dead because of her. Her fault. It makes her head spin. She clutches Allen’s arm, pleading desperately. If they don’t fix Escaflowne, then Van will die.

She died, only for a few minutes. Death was a mire of dark nothingness. There was no light, no sound, not even any pain. Then she came back, because of Van. Van can’t go there. He needs to come back. She can’t imagine what she’d do if he were gone, what any of them would do if he were gone. Not because they need Escaflowne to defeat Zaibach, but because of the worry plaguing everyone, a dark cloud she can feel hanging around them.

They pass the giant ship, and Millerna goes to plead with the man aboard, who just happens to be her betrothed. She comes back with Dryden in tow. He marvels wide-eyed over Escaflowne, and Allen snaps at him, all furrowed brow and gritted teeth. Dryden is so flippant and carefree about everything, and Allen is so composed and perfect. But Allen’s usual composure is cracking, something too complicated to name weighing heavily on his chest.

Her heart pounds in her ears when the Ispano come. It pounds faster when they lay Van back down in front of the table. Allen hovers warily over him, sparing a venomous glare at Dryden—and then the drilling starts, and Van howls in agony, chilling Hitomi deep to the marrow, her entire body erupting with goosebumps.

Allen pins Van, writhing and screaming, to the table. His throat sounds raw, his cries ringing through the loading dock as the Ispano tools whir behind them. Though Allen calls for rope, and Reeden brings it, he can only stand in horror and watch. Hitomi can’t stop shaking. Merle sobs, crying that _Lord Van is dying_ , and she is too shaken herself to offer anything other than a few platitudes of comfort. Allen’s anger has faded into only fear. She had a vision of blood raining from the sky, of the Duke falling to his death. The tense expression on Allen’s face says it all, as he holds Van in place though it does nothing to stop his pain. He’s irritated—frustrated, angry, distraught, _terrified_ —because he doesn’t want anyone else to die, and especially not Van.

When the bandages are unraveled, Van looks normal, like he hadn’t come close to death. Allen credits Hitomi with saving Van’s life, and she suddenly feels shy again. Not for long. He needs to be careful. He can’t risk his life and try to be a hero like that again. All the same, she knows there’s nothing she can do to stop him… or Allen.


End file.
